Starbucks Korea said Tuesday that it will be introducing nine new products exclusively at 15 stores in Jeju, made with specialty products from the southern island. Starbucks’ new Jeju Hallabong Green Tea Sherbert, available exclusively at 15 stores in Jeju (Starbucks)The products include drinks such as Jeju Hallabong Green Tea Sherbert and Jeju Summer Lemonade, as well as food such as the Jeju Tangerine Cheesecake.They were developed based on an analysis of big data, according to the company. Cu

Industry July 11, 2017

Lotte Chemical Titan went public on the Malaysian stock market, creating a foundation for the global operations of Lotte Chemical, according to the company Tuesday.The listing included 2.38 billion shares including 580 million new shares, with a retail price of MYR6.5 ($1.51) per share. Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin (Lotte)LC Titan is the first affiliate under the Lotte umbrella to be listed in Southeast Asia.The initial share price was lower than the MYR8 that had been initially expected a

Industry July 11, 2017

Incheon International Airport Corp. said Tuesday that it had created a cooperative alliance with two European airline groups, the first of its kind.Incheon Airport, Dutch company Royal Schiphol Group and the French Groupe ADP created the Leading Airport Alliance, modeled after alliances between airlines such as Skyteam, which houses Korean Air and the Star Alliance, home to Asiana Airlines.The three airport companies have been sister airports since 2011 and strategic partners since 2014. With th

Industry July 11, 2017

K-pop boy group Super Junior will return to the K-pop music scene in October with less members, its management agency said Monday. Super Junior (S.M. Entertainment)Originally consisted of 11, the restructured team will be made up of seven members -- Leeteuk, Heechul, Shindong, Yesung, Eunhyuk, Donghae and Siwon -- said Label SJ, the special label created by S.M. Entertainment exclusively for the globally well-known K-pop group. Eunhyuk, Donghae and Siwon, currently serving in the military, are e

Performance July 10, 2017

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Six female students from war-torn Afghanistan who had hoped to participate in an international robotics competition in the US this month will have to watch via video link after their visa applications were denied -- not once, but twice.The girls wanted to show the world that Afghans can also construct a hand-made robot. But of 162 teams who planned to participate, the Afghan girls are the only nation's team to be denied visas by the U.S. and must participate from afar, watc

World News July 10, 2017

McDonald’s Korea responded to growing fears that its patties may cause renal failure with an official statement Monday.“The patties involved in the recent controversy are not made with beef but with Korean pork, and are cooked in facilities that follow government HACCP guidelines,” the company said.  A McDonald's store in Seoul (Yonhap)“Some claim that the ground meat in the patties include intestines, but none of our company‘s patties use intestine meat.”The company is currently facing a lawsui

Industry July 10, 2017

Denmark-based toy company Lego is bringing its plastic brick toys into the digital era with the introduction of an online social media platform and programmable Lego sets.“We see digitalization as a great opportunity,” said Lego Korea General Manager Michael Ebbesen at a press conference at the Four Seasons Seoul on Monday, saying that the company‘s toys were not endangered by children’s growing preferences for digital entertainment. Lego Korea General Manager Michael Ebbesen speaks to reporters

Industry July 10, 2017

Korea’s Food Safety Ministry is set to inspect the safety of IQOS, the heat-not-burn tobacco product by Marlboro maker Philip Morris International, according to the ministry Monday.The study, to begin in August, is intended to produce an objective analysis of the health risks posed by using PMI’s IQOS system, focusing on the levels of nicotine and tar delivered by the tobacco sticks, according to the ministry. The IQOS heat-not-burn tobacco system by Philip Morris International (Philip Morris Ko

Industry July 10, 2017

Shinsegae DF temporarily stored its duty-free products in a disabled restroom at Incheon Airport on Thursday morning due to a lack of space in the pickup area, the airport corporation and Shinsegae DF confirmed Friday, after complaints raised the previous day.“Our pickup area is much smaller than that of Lotte Duty Free or Shilla Duty Free, and the airport instructed us to temporarily keep the products in the restroom,” said a spokesperson for Shinsegae DF.Once duty-free products are purchased a

Industry July 9, 2017

Despite excitement in the market over the news that Samsung Electronics is set to become the most profitable company in the world, executives at the tech giant’s Seoul office remain wary about the company’s future, citing its top leadership vacuum.On Friday, Samsung Electronics announced that it had reached 60 trillion won ($51 billion) in estimated revenues and 14 trillion won in operating profits in the second quarter, the highest levels in the company’s history. Employees walk past the Samsun

Industry July 7, 2017

Korean Air’s headquarters in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, was raided by police on Friday morning related to suspicions that the company’s chairman embezzled funds allocated for the construction of a new hotel in Incheon to use for the decoration of his private home.The raid, which targeted Korean Air’s materials division, led to the seizure of contracts and financial documents related to the hotel’s construction process.  Korean Air headquarters in Gangseo-gu, Seoul (Korean Air)Chairman Cho Yang-ho’s home

Industry July 7, 2017

South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission has begun an investigation into Pizza Hut Korea for alleged unfair changes to its contracts with its franchisees, according to news reports Thursday. (Pizza Hut Official Website)Franchisees of Pizza Hut are claiming that the company in May unilaterally changed its manual governing contracts with its franchisees, putting additional cost burdens on them and reserving the right to void contracts if they did not follow these guidelines. Although the watchdog does

Industry July 6, 2017